


No Light, No Light

by SpellStorm



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Human Experimentation, Implied Levi/Petra Ral, Implied Sasha Blouse/Connie Springer, Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin) and Cleaning, Orphans, Pain, Two Shot, Unethical Experimentation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-26
Updated: 2015-01-26
Packaged: 2018-03-09 04:57:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3237143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpellStorm/pseuds/SpellStorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Captain interrupts a gathering in the boys’ dorm that leads to a shocking discovery.</p><p>(Yes, I know this explains basically nothing. Just read it.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Light, No Light

**Author's Note:**

> This is just an idea that popped into my head in November. There will be facts that are incorrect or missing, and I know that. I’m almost done with the anime, but it will be a while until I’m caught up with the manga. Anything regarding an unknown origin story will most likely be made up by me. I’m including hints of personal theory, including about how Titan Shifters were created.
> 
> The title comes from the song of the same name by Florence + the Machine, which is the song I listened to on repeat while writing the majority of this.
> 
> Please note that this takes place _before_ the mission to retake Wall Maria, but _after_ the cadets have chosen which branch to join.
> 
> In regards to names, I’m spelling them as dictated by the Survey Corps page on the _Shingeki no Kyojin_ wiki. (Except Hanji. Because I like this spelling better.)
> 
> Warning: I haven't really beta'd this, so I apologize in advance. It took me a long time to finish this, so it wasn't written entirely together.

He probably would never have suspected anything if he hadn’t heard them talking.

Levi was sitting in his office, reviewing some reports Erwin had given him, when he heard footsteps in the hall. He ignored it, figuring it was just some of the new recruits heading to the washroom, but then his acute hearing caught onto their conversation.

“...just can’t believe it,” Krista Lenz was saying.

“...” a second, indiscernible voice replied. It sounded like the person had a full mouth.

“What?” Krista asked.

“I heard there was blood all over the place when he found her,” Sasha Blouse repeated after a moment. “And you know how he is. It’s really not all that surprising.” There was a crunching sound, as though someone had bitten into something.

“Still, doing this? It’s just...”

The voices faded away with the footsteps.

Levi sat motionless at his desk for a moment, mulling over their words. He couldn’t decide what to do. On one hand, it was part of his duties to keep the little brats in check. On the other, though, it _wasn’t_ his duty to babysit them.

But that bit about blood hadn’t sounded good....

With an almost silent groan, he abandoned his file and left the office.

The girls had been walking down the hall from right to left. Due to the layout of the castle, they could only be heading to the boys washroom or the boys dorm. Moving slowly and quietly, the captain made his way down the corridor, foregoing the washroom in favor of the dorm.

The large room was illuminated with candlelight. When he peered inside, Levi saw a number of the new recruits gathered next to one of the bunks. They appeared to be looking at something in the middle of them. Multiple voices jumbled together, rending any words spoken indistinguishable.

_“Shh!” a familiar voice hissed above the others. “Not so loud!”_

***

_“Shh!” Eren hissed, raising his voice to be heard above the others. “Not so loud!”_

Armin looked at him gratefully, glad his friend was able to speak up when he was too nervous to even try. The command had worked somewhat; the voices of their fellow recruits hadn’t completely dissipated, but despite a brief objection from Jean, they’d lowered in volume. He turned his attention back to the long strands draped across his lap.

“Armin.”

The blond looked up at the voice. Mikasa was staring at him with a look in her eyes that wasn’t quite disappointment, but it was nearing that. She flicked her black irises to the head resting on his folded legs before returning them to him.

He sighed. “Mikasa, please don’t.”

She folded her arms over her chest. “What do you plan on doing with her? There’s only so long you can hide something this big before it reaches the captain’s attention. What is your plan in the long run?”

“I don’t know, okay? I didn’t think that far ahead. For now, she can sleep in here or in your dorm.”

“And what about during the day? We have training and chores. You can’t just leave her alone for hours on end.”

“I can bring her food!” Sasha offered, having caught on to their discussion.

“And there are books we can give her to keep her occupied,” Ymir added. “The washroom isn’t too far from the dorm, so we can easily sneak her in and out after curfew.”

The rest of their friends began speaking up, giving suggestions on how to make this work. Armin could tell Mikasa was unhappy with their meddling, but she merely huffed and looked away from them all.

The blond heard her gasp and looked up to see her staring toward the door with wide eyes. When he followed her gaze and saw who was standing there, he felt his heart stop.

***

After Mikasa’s acknowledgement, the rest of the group quickly noticed him. They stared at him, eyes wide, their conversation coming to an abrupt halt.

Levi walked forward to them. Several of the recruits hurried to salute -- although they remained seated on the floor -- while the others sat still, frozen in place by his presence.

The captain deigned to ignore the majority of them and focused on only one person. “Yeager.”

The raven-haired boy flinched but held his salute. “Yes, Captain Levi?” he asked.

“There are fifteen minutes until curfew. Shouldn’t you be heading down to your cell?”

Eren blinked and reluctantly nodded. “Yes, sir,” he agreed. He turned quickly to his adopted sister.

“Goodnight, Eren,” Mikasa said, embracing him briefly. “Sleep well.”

Levi detected the subtle message in her words: _Don’t do anything stupid._

The Titan Shifter nodded. “Goodnight, Mikasa.” He looked up. “Goodnight,” he said to the others.

There were several mumbled replies as Eren stood and saluted his captain again before leaving the dorm room.

“Find Erd and tell him to lock you in tonight,” the captain called after the boy.

Levi turned to the remaining recruits. “The same rule applies to all of you. I expect everyone to be in their own dorm at 2030 hours. The _dorm_ , Blouse, not the kitchen.”

The brunette blushed and looked down.

Although he knew there was some reason they were all on the floor, the captain was reluctant to investigate. It was getting late, and he was tired. He hadn’t gotten more than a couple hours of sleep in the past three days, any free time monopolized by Hanji and her discoveries. The thought of his bed was extremely welcoming right about now. This situation could wait until tomorrow. They had probably been messing around, anyway. They were children, after all.

He was about to dismiss the teens and take his leave when he heard a whimper.

Levi glanced toward the middle of the huddle. He’d noticed earlier that the ten of them had arranged themselves in a way that obviously wasn’t natural, and as he watched, a couple of them glanced behind themselves and shifted slightly.

The squad leader fixed them with a hard stare. “Move.”

Exchanging uneasy and reluctant glances, the new recruits slowly scooted to the aside, gradually creating a path to the center. When he saw what their bodies had been concealing, he had to fight to keep his expression neutral.

“Captain, we can explain --” Springer started.

“Who is she,” Levi demanded flatly, not taking his eyes off the still figure.

“It’s my fault,” Arlert spoke up. “I brought her here.”

Levi stared at the blond for a long moment. “Why.”

The short boy swallowed hard. “I didn’t know what else to do with her,” he replied. “I found her just outside of town earlier today. She was all alone and exhausted. I asked her where her parents were and she started crying. I couldn’t just leave her there when she obviously needed help.”

The captain studied the tiny girl on the floor. Someone -- probably Armin -- had fashioned a little nest of blankets from the bunks, and her head was cushioned in Armin’s lap. The long hair spread around her -- so black it was almost violet -- was tangled and, judging by the small pile of twigs, leaves, and grass nearby, had previously been in even worse shape . The color of her skin was alarmingly close to the white uniform pants, although dotted with freckles. Her veins were scarily visible. There was a cut on one of her cheeks, her lips were dry and cracked, and she appeared to be recovering from a black eye. From what little he could see of the rest of her body, the injuries didn’t stop at her face.

The room was completely silent as the cadets warily observed their squad leader. Even Sasha had stopped eating her (stolen) apple.

Eventually, Levi spoke again, making them all jump. “Give her to me.”

Armin’s eyes widened. “What? But--wait--!” His grip on her hand tightened a bit, causing the girl to groan quietly. He quickly loosened his hold again and rubbed it soothingly.

“I’m taking her to the commander. I don’t have authority over this.” In reality, he just didn’t know what to do in this kind of situation.

Armin reluctantly released her hand and leaned back, allowing the captain to lift the sleeping child. Her head buried itself into his neck as she instinctively shifted at the change in position. Levi held her with one arm supporting her back and the other tucked under her legs. The blanket fell off as he stood, revealing the remains of a thin slip that had probably been white at one point. Her exposed limbs displayed even more injuries.

He turned to leave, but a voice stopped him.

“Please, Captain,” Arlert said. “Let me come. She was still really distressed when she fell asleep. If she wakes up in a different place with strangers, she might get scared and hurt herself even more.”

He nodded once. “The rest of you, curfew is in five minutes. Everyone better be in their dorms by then.”

They all stood and saluted as he made his way to the door with the girl in his arms and Armin in tow.

***

As Armin stood, he caught a glimpse of Mikasa’s face. His friend was watching him carefully. Her black eyes seemed to say, _I told you_ , but her body language said something different. Armin had known her long enough to recognize that her fingers fiddling with the end of her scarf wasn’t just a mindless movement. She was worried about him.

He flashed her what he hoped was a reassuring smile as he followed his captain from the dorm room.

The cadet quickly matched Levi’s surprisingly-long stride and reached out to stroke the girl’s hair. Neither he nor his leader spoke.

They had made it to the next floor when they were intercepted.

“Levi!”

Armin heard him groan in annoyance at the voice.

A tall brunette woman wearing glasses approached them from down the hall, smiling. She wore the standard boots, pants, and sash of the military uniform, but her jacket was draped over her arm and the sleeves of her yellow shirt were rolled up. Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail.

“Guess what I found?! I was looking at some of Eren’s skin cells under the microscope and I saw--” She tilted her head to the side and blinked. “Why are you holding a girl?”

The captain sighed. “Arlert found her. I’m taking her to Erwin.”

“Arlert?”

He jerked his head at Armin.

The woman’s eyes lit up. “Oh! I’ve seen you around. You’re friends with Eren, right?”

Startled, Armin nodded.

“Have you known him a long time?”

Confused, he nodded again. “We grew up in Shiganshina District together. After Wall Maria fell, we stuck together.”

She grinned. “Great! Then you can answer some questions--”

“Not now, Hanji,” Levi interrupted. “Busy, remember?” He shifted his arms a little to indicate the girl.

Hanji blinked. “Oh yeah. Another time, Arlert.”

“Armin,” he replied automatically.

She held out her hand. “Hanji Zoë, but just call me Hanji.”

He shook with her, and then she turned to Levi. “I’ll come with you. I have to talk to Erwin anyway.”

The man shook his head in annoyance but didn’t refuse her. He led the way to the third floor, climbing the stairs carefully to avoid jostling the girl as much as possible. Once they’d reached their destination, Hanji knocked.

“Come in.”

The woman -- whom Armin now remembered Eren saying was another squad leader and head of the science division -- held the door open for them.

Commander Erwin was sitting at his desk, skimming through some files. No one spoke until he finally looked up.

“Hanji,” he smiled. “What can I do for you?”

She smiled back. “I got some more information from the samples I took from Eren. But that can wait; I think Levi’s problem is more important.”

Erwin turned to his second-in-command. Immediately, he zeroed in on his cargo. His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Well. This is a surprise.”

***

“Alright, Armin. Can you tell me what happened?”

Levi stood with his arms folded, leaning against the side of Erwin’s desk. He watched the cadet swallow hard and glance at the girl, who had been settled onto the bench in the corner. After a moment, Arlert began to speak.

“Earlier today, Squad Leader Ness asked me to ride into town for some supplies. As I was leaving to come back, I heard whimpering. It was a little ways outside the town limits. I thought it might be a hurt animal and got off my horse to check it out.” He took a breath. “When I looked behind the bushes, I found her.

“She was all alone, I swear. There was no one around. And her body was so filthy that at first I didn’t realize she was injured. When she saw me, she cried and begged me not to hurt her. I don’t know if it was because of my uniform or because she’s scared of people or something.

“I managed to calm her down eventually and asked her where her parents were. That made her cry again, so I waited for her to stop before I asked her if she needed help. I could tell she was still terrified, but she nodded. I gave her some of the food I had bought.”

Levi saw the boy’s eyes get a little misty.

“She scarfed it down!” he exclaimed. “Like she hadn’t seen food in weeks. She ate so fast she choked on it. I gave her water, too, and after she was done drinking, she almost collapsed.

“Please, Commander, you have to understand,” he begged. “I didn’t know what else to do. I couldn’t just leave her there alone. And if she acted scared of me, how would she react to a whole town of people? I did the only thing I could think of: I put her on my horse and brought her back here.”

Levi watched as his friend considered the boy’s words. “I understand.”

Armin appeared relieved. “I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I remember what it was like after Wall Maria fell. No one had enough food, and there wasn’t room for everyone. I don’t know how many nights Eren, Mikasa, and I spent out on the streets because we didn’t make it to a building in time.” He looked at his hands. “I couldn’t just leave her there.”

“Do you know her name?” Hanji asked suddenly.

Armin shook his head. “I asked her, but she wouldn’t tell me, even after I told her mine.”

Levi decided to speak up. “How did the rest of them find out? I only came into your dorm because I heard two of the girls talking as they passed my office.”

“She was fast asleep by the time we got here, so I hid her in an empty stall while I took the supplies inside. I went back for her and took her to the dorm, but I ran into Connie on the way in. By the time I’d gotten her settled down, he’d already told Reiner and Bertolt, who told Jean, who told Ymir, who told Krista and Sasha. Eren and Mikasa found out when they came looking for me.”

At that moment, the four soldiers heard a soft groan. The girl stirred, her face scrunching a couple times before she began to sit up. She reached one hand above her, as if feeling for something that wasn’t there.

And as soon as she realized that, she freaked out.

Her eyes snapped open, an oddly animalistic whining coming from somewhere in her throat. Her body twisted almost unnaturally as she rushed to put some sort of defense between herself and the rest of the room’s occupants.

“It’s alright!” Armin exclaimed, holding his hands up.

Her eyes locked on him, and there was a glimmer of recognition in them.

Armin smiled. “Hey. Remember me? I found you earlier, near the town.”

The wild look dimmed a little. “You gave me food,” she murmured. Her voice was incredibly soft, and it had an odd inflection in it. Almost as if her vocal cords weren’t used to being used for talking.

He nodded. “Do you remember my name?”

“Armin.”

“You’re safe. I told you I knew somewhere warm, didn’t I?”

The girl glanced around. When she saw the other humans, she froze and started shaking.

Armin followed her gaze. “It’s okay,” he reassured her. “These are friends. That’s Commander Erwin, and that’s Captain Levi. And that’s Hanji. They won’t hurt you.”

Erwin crouched down so he was at the girl’s level.

“Like Armin said, I’m Commander Erwin. Can you tell me your name?”

“...”

“I’m sorry?”

“I don’t know,” she muttered louder. “It’s been so long since anyone’s said it that I can’t remember.”

The statement made little sense, but Erwin only nodded. “Alright. Is there anything you’d like to be called, then? I’d hate to have to refer to you as ‘The Girl’.”

She began fiddling with a loose thread on her shift. “My last name is Tucker, I think.”

“How about Tuck?” Hanji suggested.

Instead of being scared by the new voice, as Levi expected, the girl nodded. “I like that.”

Erwin smiled. “Well, hello, then, Tuck.”

Timidly, she returned the smile. “Hello.”

A rumbling sound came from the vicinity of her stomach, and she blushed. Erwin simply chuckled. “Hungry?”

She nodded.

“I’m sure there’s some leftover soup from dinner in the kitchen. I’ll have some warmed up for you and brought here.”

“I’ll go,” Levi offered.

Armin looked at him in surprise, but Erwin nodded his thanks.

“See what other extras we have, as well. And bring milk.”

As he left the room, he heard the commander say, “Now. Why don’t you tell me about yourself.”

***

“Now,” Erwin said. “Why don’t you tell me about yourself?”

Tuck looked at the commander uncertainly. Armin grabbed one of her hands gently and gave her an encouraging smile when she glanced his way.

“What do you want to know?”

The man spread his hands wide. “Anything you want to tell me.”

She focused her wide sapphire eyes on a bruise on her leg and traced it as she spoke.

“I lived in a town. I liked it there. My father was a baker and my mother did seamstress work for extra money. I was an only child.”

She paused for a moment. “I was ten -- at least, I think I was -- and was playing in our garden when I heard people screaming. Mama rushed outside and grabbed me, told me we were getting Papa from work early. Everyone was running, and it was hard to move. There was red all over the ground and people’s clothes.”

Armin’s breath caught. He had a bad feeling about this.

“We got to the bakery eventually. I remember Papa yelling and Mama crying. We began running again. But I was so tired. My feet hurt; I couldn’t keep up.

“And then I tripped. Papa tried to pick me up, but suddenly he was gone and Mama was screaming. We were covered in red. She kept reaching for his boots that were under a rock. She wouldn’t leave.” Tears filled her eyes. “A group of people ran past us, not even noticing us there. I couldn’t see anything, and when they were gone--”

Wetness began to streak down her face, leaving light tracks through the grime. “She wouldn’t move, she just kept lying there, and I didn’t want to leave her, but one of our neighbors saw me and grabbed me. Even though I kept crying, she took me with her.

“I don’t remember much more. I think Miss... Miss...” She sniffed. “Anyway. I think Miss was trying to get me on something. A boat? But people said there wasn’t any room left. And somehow we got separated after that.”

Armin’s throat felt raw, but he had to know. “Where--where did you live?”

“Armin?” Erwin frowned. “Are you alright?”

Tuck shrugged. “I don’t remember. I think it started with an S? Shinga? Shinangina?”

He swallowed hard. “Shinganshina?”

Tuck tilted her head as she thought. “Yeah,” she finally said, nodding. “That might’ve been it.”

“Then that means.... Five years.... Are you fifteen?”

She shrugged. “It sounds right.”

Before anyone else could speak, the door opened again. Captain Levi entered, carrying a medium-sized wooden tub, like the one used for laundry. few buckets. After he set it down, he turned back around and grabbed a few buckets from someone in the hall.

“Thank you, Petra,” he said.

Footsteps faded away as he shut the door again. Reaching into the tub, he pulled out a couple of bowls, utensils, and a cup. He ladled chicken noodle soup from a small pot into one bowl and spooned some mashed potatoes into another. After adding a mixture of berries to the last one, he poured milk into the cup and arranged the food on Tuck’s other side, placing a roll in the soup bowl.

She stared at the meal for a minute, eyes wide.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Levi asked.

“This is all for me?” she replied in an awed voice.

“We’ve already eaten,” Hanji told her. “Have as much as you want.”

***

“Have as much as you want.”

That was all the permission she needed, apparently. In less than a minute, the potatoes were gone and she was starting on the soup. She moaned in happiness as she lifted the bowl to finish off the broth. The broth-soaked bread was gone in seconds.

While she began devouring the berries, Levi poured the contents of one bucket into the tub before kneeling and dipping a cloth in the warm water. The moment he turned to her and reached for her arm, however, she froze with a handful of blueberries and hackberries.

Levi held his hands up. “I just want to wash the dirt off,” he told her.

She drew her limbs to her body and looked at Armin, who nodded. “It’s alright, Tuck,” the cadet assured her. “You can trust Levi.”

After a long moment of watching the captain warily, she hesitantly extended her empty hand.

When she had drained her cup, upending it above her mouth and tapping the bottom to get the last drops, she allowed Levi to start on her other arm. As he focused on scrubbing off the multiple thick layers of dirt, he heard Erwin speak.

“Tuck,” he started. The girl’s blue-eyed gaze moved from observing her washing to look at the commander. “You said your hometown might have been called Shiganshina.” Well that was a surprise.

She nodded. “It feels right.”

When Levi turned to grab a new cloth, he saw that Erwin had pulled his desk chair out to sit in front of the bench. The tall blond man was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.

The man sighed, and Levi could tell he was about to say something he really wished he didn’t have to. “Five years ago, a new kind of Titan appeared at Wall Maria. It was unlike any other Titan anyone had ever seen, and larger. It managed to destroy the gate, and Titans invaded. Many people died; the rest ended up as refugees within Wall Rose.”

He paused. “The town where the gate was located was Shiganshina District.”

Four of the occupants of the office watched the fifth’s face carefully.

After a moment of them not speaking, Tuck shrugged. “Okay. That makes sense with what I remember.” When they didn’t reply to that, she added, “I know my parents are dead, if that’s what you’re trying to get at. Papa was crushed under a boulder and Mama was trampled. I’ve come to terms with it.”

Another brief moment passed before Erwin nodded. “Alright, then,” he said, moving on. “You told me you got separated from your neighbor when the boats left, correct?” She nodded. “Where did you end up? You couldn’t have been alone for five years.”

He didn’t add that it was impossible for her to have survived without being on a boat.

Levi’s hand was suddenly empty. He looked up, shocked, to see that Tuck had curled herself into a ball, her legs -- including the one she’d just reclaimed from his grasp -- pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them so tight he could clearly see the tension. Her body had started shaking again.

“Tuck?!” Armin exclaimed in alarm. When he touched her shoulder, though, she flinched, and he jerked his hand back as if she’d burned him. “Tuck?” he repeated, his voice a whisper.

The girl seemed catatonic. The others were still, unsure of how to react, until Hanji suddenly stepped forward. Levi had forgotten she was even present; in all the time he’d known her, she’d never been so quiet.

Hanji knelt down by the bench and carefully reached out. She didn’t take her hand from Tuck’s arm when the girl flinched, but spoke gently.

“Tuck,” she said in a quiet voice. “I don’t know what you’ve been through. I’ve been very fortunate. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to see your parents die, how you must have felt, especially at such a young age. But I swear to you, no one here is going to hurt you. We want to help, but we can’t do that if you won’t tell us how.”

The child didn’t stop clutching herself, but after a moment, a muffled voice came from within her fold.

“There were men,” she said. “They were wandering through the crowd, looking for children. Any that they found alone, they rounded up and put in a cart. Everyone was so busy trying to get on the boats that no one paid them much mind.

“I think they might have taken me from Miss; I don’t know. But I ended up with the other kids. Once the boats left, the men drove the cart away.”

“Where did they take you?” Hanji questioned gently.

“It was dark. It wasn’t any sort of actual building; more like a series of caves, I guess. The place was underground; that’s how they avoided Titans.”

Levi felt anger welling inside him. “What did the men want with you?” he asked. His mind started producing images, making him imagine the worst.

Tuck flinched at his voice but didn’t shut down this time. He ignored the glare Hanji sent his way. 

“They hardly ever spoke to us directly; usually they’d talk about us like we weren’t even there. If we said a word without being told to, we were beaten. If we tried to rebel, whoever started it was dragged away and never came back. We learned the rules pretty quickly: behave or we’d disappear.”

As she spoke, Tuck’s head was gradually lifting. She kept her face pointed down, looking at her knees, but her voice was stronger.

“I think that they thought we were too young to understand them, or maybe too stupid. Maybe they were right, because I didn’t know what they were saying a lot of the time. But I understood some of it. I got enough to know that they barely considered us animals, let alone children. We were objects to them, ones that could be used whatever way they wanted. Our purpose was to be test subjects.

“They kept us in cages; they took our clothes and made us wear these slips. More often than not, kids died from sickness than the tests.”

“What tests?” Erwin asked carefully.

Tuck picked at a scab on her arm. “From what I gathered from conversations, they were trying to make some sort of hybrid. One that could give them power over everyone? They continually tried out different serums on us. They got very angry when nothing worked. I know they wanted to find a certain man. A doctor, I think? They thought he had the answers to why it wasn’t working.”

Hanji frowned. “What kind of hybrids? Do you know?” She gently batted Tuck’s fingers away.

The girl switched to playing with a strand of hair. “I think....” She sighed. “I don’t want to sound crazy, although for all I know I am, but.... It sounded like between a human and Titan.”

The three adults in the room exchanged glances before Erwin spoke again.

“Thank you for sharing this with us, Tuck,” he said kindly. “There’s just one more thing I’d like for you to clear up for me, if you don’t mind?” At her nod, he said, “If you were contained the way you say... how did you get here?”

Tuck winced when her fingers caught in a tangle. Slowly, not want to trigger anything, Levi reached for the leg he’d been washing. She didn’t pull away. He continued running the cloth over it, careful of the bruises and cuts marring the white skin.

“I don’t know how I got out of my cage,” Tuck said. “Sometimes they forgot to latch the doors when they were in a hurry, or because we were too weak to move. That might’ve been how. I don’t think I’d have been able to do it otherwise.

“I wanted to save the others, but I knew I only had one chance. I was weak from a lack of food; I practically crawled through the tunnels until I reached the surface.” Her thin lips twitched up in an almost-smile. “The sunlight burned my eyes.”

She shrugged. “After that, I just took it one day at a time. Put one foot in front of the other and walked. It was difficult, because it’d been so long since I’d had a real meal, but I managed somehow. I ate whatever I found that was edible. I changed direction when I felt I needed to.

“Then one day, I reached a wall. I guess it was Wall Rose? It was night, so no one saw me. I stumbled through and kept going until I found that small village. I’d gone too long without food, though, and I couldn’t make it in to find any. I collapsed.

“And then Armin found me and you know the rest.”

“Tuck,” Armin said, worry in his voice. “There are Titans everywhere within Wall Maria. How did you manage to make it here without running into them?”

Levi gestured for her other leg, and she gave it to him without complaint. “I didn’t.”

The captain glanced up. “How?”

She wouldn’t look at any of them. “I don’t know. I think maybe it was the tests they did? Whatever they injected me with must have done something to me because any time I saw Titans, they....”

She mumbled the last part.

“I’m sorry?” Erwin said.

“They didn’t come near me,” she repeated, louder. “Look, I don’t know what they did while I was in that place. But for some reason, Titans don’t approach me. Maybe they don’t think I’m human anymore, or maybe they just can’t sense I’m there. I don’t know.”

She suddenly looked terrified. “Please believe me!” she cried. “I don’t know anything! I can’t help you. No more tests, please!”

Hanji held up her hands. “It’s alright, Tuck. We’re not going to make you do anything you don’t want.”

Erwin was observing the girl. “Levi, Hanji, may I speak with you?” he asked.

Levi put the cloth down and followed his commander and friend to a separate corner of the office.

“She’s obviously terrified,” Erwin began. “I don’t even want to begin to imagine what she’s been through the past five years. And I’m not sure how much more she’d be able to take.”

“What are you getting at, Erwin?” Levi questioned.

The man looked contemplative. “The Military Police will want to run more experiments on her, try to find out why Titans ignore her.”

“It would be a great triumph for humanity,” Hanji agreed.

“But you know how they are. They’re rough and cocky. They’ll want to praise, the reward. They won’t care about hurting someone to get it.”

“So...?” Levi prompted.

“Well, you can obviously tell how she feels about being tested on. And it wouldn’t be right to traumatize her any further, especially not when she’s in a fragile state such as this. So I don’t think it would be a wise move to inform anyone about her yet.”

“You mean lie to the Military Police.”

“It’s not lying if they don’t ask. And you remember how they reacted to Eren. If they think Tuck is somehow dangerous, they won’t hesitate to put her down.”

He looked thoughtful. “But I do want to make sure nothing else was changed by what those people did. Hanji, with Tuck’s permission, would you be willing to take a few samples and see what you find? If there’s anything wrong -- besides what we can see, like malnourishment -- I want to be able to get rid of it before it can do any more harm.”

The scientist nodded. “And I can even do it without scaring her, much.”

Erwin smiled. “Then it’s settled. She’ll stay here. We’ll give her a bed in the girls’ dorm. This’ll be a challenge, taking care of someone who has been through this much. But I think it’ll be a nice challenge, and it will also help give the new cadets some responsibility.”

“They all seemed plenty fond of her in the dorm,” Levi muttered, still not happy they had managed to keep this a secret for almost half a day.

Hanji looked contemplative. “Tuck will need extra nutrients in her meals for at least the next several months, and the physical wounds aren’t the only ones that will have to be healed. Right now, it seems she trusts all of us in this room, most strongly Armin, probably because he rescued her. We don’t know how she’ll react to other men; it seems whatever group had her consisted of all males. We’re lucky she agreed to let Levi touch her, or even to talk to Erwin.

“You’re definitely right, Erwin. This _is_ going to be a challenge. It’s going to take a while to repair all the damage those monsters caused.” Levi stared at her with a bit of confused intrigue, and she shrugged. “What? I may have had a relatively simple childhood, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see people for who they are. Or, in this case, _what_ ,” she added in a mutter.

As Hanji launched into a discussion with Erwin about her “scientific” opinion on what exactly needed to happen for Tuck to get her health up, Levi glanced over his shoulder towards the bench. He was surprised to see that the girl had moved even closer to Armin and was studying the parts of his uniform, namely the straps around his legs and the one across his chest. While he watched, she seemed to ask what their purpose was, and Armin explained with ample hand motions. She then proceeded to gesture to the other elements of the ensemble, seeming genuinely curious.

Levi realized it was probably the first time she’d been this close to real clothes since she’d been imprisoned.

“She needs clothes,” he said abruptly, interrupting whatever Erwin and Hanji were talking about now.

Erwin looked at him. “Sorry?”

“That slip is thin as hell, and it looks like it hasn’t been washed in decades. We’re going to have to find her something else.”

Hanji studied Tuck contemplatively. “She’s pretty small. Isn’t there a new recruit about that size?”

Levi nodded. “Krista Lenz.”

“I’ll get something from her in the morning. You’re right, she can’t go around wearing that. It can’t be very comfortable.”

“We’ll have to put her somewhere for tonight, as well. I don’t want her in the girls dorm since she doesn’t know any of them.”

“She can stay in my room,” Hanji told Erwin. “If we put her down with Eren, she’ll almost definitely have a panic attack in the morning when she wakes up behind bars.”

The blond man nodded. “That’s as much as we need to figure out tonight.”

The trio made their way back over to the two teens. They both looked up. Levi saw that Tuck’s eyes were almost completely closed at this point. She blinked furiously, but it didn’t make them open any further.

Erwin squatted down in front of the girl. “Tuck,” he began, “I know you’re tired, so for now we’re going to let you get some sleep. You’ll stay in Hanji’s room for the night, and in the morning we’ll get you some clothes to replace that slip. Is there anything else you can think of that you need right now?”

Her head tipped forward before she jerked herself upward. “N’s’r,” she replied, her words slurring together with fatigue.

The commander nodded. “Then I’ll leave you in Hanji’s hands and see you in the morning.”

Hanji helped the girl stand and wrapped an arm loosely around her shoulders, ready to support her weight if exhaustion overtook her. Levi saw Armin watching anxiously as the two females left the office.

“Oi, Arlert.” Armin’s eyes snapped to him. “There’s nothing else that needs to be done tonight. Go back to your dorm and get some sleep. You still have training in the morning.”

“Yes, Captain.” The boy stood and snapped him a quick salute. “Thank you, sir.” He turned to Erwin. “And thank you, Commander.”

Erwin smiled. “Get some rest.”

He nodded and left.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I seriously don’t know where this came from.
> 
> I’d love to know your thoughts, but please keep in mind my place in this series and try not to spoil anything. Thank you for reading! Part two should be coming soon, so please subscribe!


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